i already made a post about this, but it was kinda impulsive and not thought-through...

i propose that there are absorbing/expending powers:

an absorbing power of course absorbs energy from it's target. expending powers do the opposite: they recycle the energy that it gained form doing another (absorbing) power.

note: from now on i call absorbing powers "positive" powers,
and expending powers "negative" powers.

my mechanicswise idea for this is the following:

a weapon always starts empty. so first it has to use a positive power. the way it does that is as follows: (for positive powers. i touch on negative ones later)

it gains 1 "point" of energy per model it is affecting, if it affects cover it gains 1 form light and 2 from heavy. note down/ mark how many "points" the weapon gained. you use that in the next activation.

all of this is an example

the more points it gained, the more damage it does. some powers do static damage and Potential Energy weapons have max. amount of points they can absorb.

example of variable damaging PE power: crush someone.
you extract the gravitational PE from everyone in the unit + terrain within 2". you then transfer some of that to one model.
that model takes a hit with strength=points-3

a five man squad in light cover would take a strength 3 hit.

now notice how i said some of that. you used 6 points of energy, but your weapon also has 6 left.

in the user's next phase, the weapon already has 6 points of energy from the previous phase. if it has not yet reached its max. amount of points, it can do another positive power. alternatively it can do a negative power, using all the points it has left.

example:
overheat.
choose a new target. that target now takes 6 S1 hits since every thing around them, including themselves, becomes far too hot to touch... resulting in burns and the like...

oh and btw those things thould have a max. range

i have more ideas for pos. and neg. powers but i'm not gonna post em yet.

tell me what you think..

Last edited by slaughtergames on Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.

"i buy me new deffkopta!!"
"waaaagh!"
"i did research, to find out how to minimize the randomness of the shock-attack gun."
"huh?"
"waaaagh!"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!!"

to extract energy from something (or insert it for that matter) you need to place a field.

and i realize that it should have a way to make it harder to "cast", so what about this:

you place a marker near or within the target squad. first it scatters. after that measure how many models are inside that field. (the diameter would vary per power? otherwise we would ofcourse just use the blast template) and then you proceed to determining how much energy is gained etc...

"i buy me new deffkopta!!"
"waaaagh!"
"i did research, to find out how to minimize the randomness of the shock-attack gun."
"huh?"
"waaaagh!"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!!"

alright, if this has to be my own potential-energy-powers BLOG, then that's fine with me. though i begg you: please PLEASE post reactions and thoughts.

more power ideas:positive:Minus Gravity: absorb gravitational potential energy from either the user or from the enemy:form user: user gains increased movement, as he leaps and fly's through the air with easefrom enemy: enemy unit cannot move voluntarily, can not claim cover bonuses, and gain random movement, as they float around helplessly a few meters above the ground.

phase through object: the user extracts most repelling energy between himself and an object, enabling him to move through it without problems.
the user nominates one terrain piece. for purposes of movement, he ignores it, but cannot end his move within it.

stealth: removes the repelling force between the user and incoming photons, making him invisible to the naked eye. (can also be used on another friendly unit?)

undo negative power by removing excess energy.

negative:blow the enemy away: simply add to the repelling force of the protons between enemy models and a piece of terrain. the enemy are blown away 2d3". (not d6, 2d3 is less random.)

electrocute: the energy is channeled into the enemy's body's and equipment, killing most of them and leaving the survivors with badly damaged weapons. the target takes a couple of S1 hits, and we have to find a way to show that the weapons are damaged and start to malfunction.?!

undo positive power by adding energy.

crush somebody immediately: in my example it was a positive power, but it can also be done directly as a negative power. the target takes 1 S3 hit.

the only reason I don't reply is because I'm totally lost on what Matt wants Potential-Energy to be. I even read his latest post on Potential Energy and still can't figure out what it is supposed to be able to do.

cast a power:
-place a marker near the target unit. if user targets himself, this is not needed.
-measure whether it is within range. if not, the attack fails.
-roll for marker scatter. (if this scatters out of range, it still proceeds)
-determine amount of power gained. (only for positive powers.)
-resolve power. a power never lasts longer than one turn and damage cannot be undone with an opposing DP user, unless stated otherwise.
-note down how much power the weapon has left. (after positive powers only)

note on the marker: every model within range of the marker is affected. we can use a blast template, but i like the idea that some powers affect larger areas, and some affect smaller ones.

Minus Gravity: absorb gravitational potential energy from either the user or from the enemy:form user: user gains increased movement, as he leaps and fly's through the air with easefrom enemy: enemy unit cannot move voluntarily, can not claim cover bonuses, and gain random movement, as they float around helplessly a few meters above the ground.

phase through object: the user extracts most repelling energy between himself and an object, enabling him to move through it without problems.
the user nominates one terrain piece. for purposes of movement, he ignores it, but cannot end his move within it.

stealth: removes the repelling force between the user and incoming photons, making him invisible to the naked eye. (can also be used on another friendly unit?)edited to add: not the some as the Stealth in the other topic. your opponent still knows where it is, but it can't be targeted, unless your opp. makes his soldiers "discover" it.

undo negative power by removing excess energy.

negative:

blow the enemy away: simply add to the repelling force of the protons between enemy models and a piece of terrain. the enemy are blown away 2d3". (not d6, 2d3 is less random.)

electrocute: the energy is channeled into the enemy's body's and equipment, killing most of them and leaving the survivors with badly damaged weapons. the target takes a couple of S1 hits, and we have to find a way to show that the weapons are damaged and start to malfunction.?!

overheat:target takes 6 S1 hits since every thing around them, including themselves, becomes far to hot to touch

undo positive power by adding energy.

crush somebody :the target takes 1 S4 hit, since he feels about 4 times as heavy.

You suggested combining it with my suggestion for a Dark Potential card mechanic. What if whenever you successfully applied a power you kept the card and could use it later for one of these reverse DP powers? That way it is easy to keep track of (no need to track power gained and all that since the card is physically there avoiding any memory issues) and simple to play while still retaining the flavor you were looking for.

So something like this:

Turn one I'm playing a X'llathos Phantom. I use teleport and draw a card from the deck, I get a 6 of clubs which is a success. I teleport and keep the card.

Turn two now I still have the 6 of clubs and can use it to play teleport's referse power which is lets say and attack called Mass Implosion. I declair I'm playing mass implosion and instead of drawing a card like normal I simply play my 6 of clubs. After the power resolves the 6 simply goes back into the deck.